Research Area A Schoolbooks (A2)
Cultural Flows in History Education: Shifting Re-creations of European and Asian ‘Others’ in East Asian Schoolbooks
Project Leader: Gotelind Müller-Saini, Wolfgang Seifert
Project Members: Daniela Schaaf, Subei Wu, Miao Xu, Alexander Quaas, Yuka Nakada
History textbooks are visible signs of asymmetrical flows of concepts, ideals etc., taking in a large part of diverse production measures, educational frameworks etc. from Western models, combining it with an own understanding of national history. In the process of self-definition, the image of the ‘other’ is of crucial importance, be it the European or western ‘other’, be it the Asian neighbour. On the other hand, a new trend of ‘common textbook initiatives’ has taken off in East Asia to readdress this asymmetry in mutual representation. The conference therefore focused specifically on this shift to open up a new line of discussion in the whole East Asian textbook issue. Furthermore, it brought together people involved personally in the writing of national and multi-national history textbooks and scholars working on textbook issues, thus bridging also the gap between practice and academic discourse.
The project's scope consisted of an international conference and two guest professorships (2009; funding time: 2 years; project has been successfully completed).